Senator's medicinal pot initiative likely up in smoke

There isn’t much Capitol buzz in support of Kansas taking part in the medicinal marijuana craze.

Sen. David Haley, a Democrat from Kansas City, Kan., introduced a bill that would allow Kansas to join 18 states and the District of Columbia in granting permission for qualified patients to consume pot with endorsement of a physician and without fear of arrest.

Haley, who said he was no fan of recreational marijuana consumption, can rattle off a series of public policy advantages of the THC-laced plant, but the chairwoman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee intends to use her influence to snuff out the bill that allows patients to possess up to six ounces of pot and grow up to a dozen pot plants in their residence.

The bill assigns regulation and licensing of medical marijuana "compassion centers" supplying the substance to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

"I don't think the Legislature would be for it. We have a very limited session. You have to look at the opportunity costs," said Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, the Republican chair of the panel.

Translation: No hearing on Senate Bill 9 during the 2013 session.

The news will be cheered by those who view marijuana as a plague deeply damaging to Americans and condemned by folks who spend their days praising efficacy of weed for a variety of debilitating medical conditions.

Haley said he would remain dedicated to the cause. He has been disappointed before, as similar proposals brought forward by Democrats and Republicans, including former Kansas Attorney Robert Stephan, failed to gain traction in the Statehouse.

"I don't understand the opposition. Kansas is a conservative state, but this is not a conservative or liberal issue," Haley said. "This is a public safety issue. Many of the opioids and other narcotics these patients take now carry serious side effects and cause thousands over accidental overdose deaths every year. Why criminalize it for people who are just wanting the medicinal value of marijuana?"

He said marijuana, like any medication, wasn’t harmless, but side effects were milder and didn’t pose a fatal overdose threat.

Under current Kansas law, anyone obtaining marijuana on the black market to treat a health condition could be placed in jail for one year and fined $2,500 for a first-offense conviction for possession. Subsequent convictions for the same infraction could be punishable by three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Personal cultivation of a marijuana plant is a felony in Kansas carrying a maximum penalty of up to 17 years in prison.

Dan Riffle, legislative analyst at the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., said seriously ill Kansans should be allowed to treat their conditions and improve the quality of their lives without fear of arrest and incarceration.

"They should be able to obtain it safely and legally without having to resort to illegal drug dealers in an underground market," Riffle said.

Topeka physician Eric Voth, who is chairman of the Institute on Global Drug Policy and a critic of medical and recreational marijuana consumption, said the political arena wasn't the appropriate venue to decide medical questions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should determine the way medicines are brought to the market, he said.

In addition, the doctor said, side effects of the major active ingredient of marijuana — THC — shouldn't be trivialized. Marijuana impairs a person's ability to drive, intensifies manic depression and leads to use of other dangerous drugs, Voth said.

The medicinal marijuana movement is a smoke screen of authorization for recreational use, he said.

"They are very public about it," Voth said. "That has to be separated from the medicine. And, it's just not the great cure-all for anything."

In the House, the top Republican and Democrat agreed the medical marijuana movement hadn’t yet arrived in Kansas.

"I think there are some very valid arguments to be made that we should take a look at the medical marijuana issue," said House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence. "I don't see Kansas going much farther than that. Legalization of marijuana is not something the public is clamoring for."

House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, chuckled when asked about the issue, but made it clear the policy question wasn't at the forefront of his mind.